2017 A4 Allroad 3.0 V6 TDi

The A4 isn’t as big as you would expect so be very careful about that aspect.

From a car perspective the 3.0 TDi is a great engine and especially when mated with the 7 speed DSG. I have one in my A6 and see up to 60 MPG on a run and average 45 round town, it will cruise all day on the motorway without any issues and has plenty of poke when needed even if the car is full of stuff.

Have a labrador and a boxer, both quite small for their breed. And obviously I own some bikes as well.

We camp a lot. Currently have a Navara which is great for the Peak District. But as a company car it’s far worse value than a PCP. Bikes fit on the bed but only if I take the front wheels off. I’ve got a towball mount rack too which tilts – but it’s no good with a pickup as it means I can’t open the tailgate.

So a PCP on an Allroad is tempting. Any opinions welcome. Off-roading is pretty limited to muddy fields and verges if I’m sensible. Oh – and snow, of which we get a fair amount in winter.

I had an A6 2.7 TDI Quattro which was a great motorway car and brilliant in the snow, the 3 was the newer much improved motor so I can only assume it’s a great engine. If you have stuff to move around and have the space for parking then I would look at an A6 Quattro rather than an A4 or an allroad. When I got mine (it was 10 years ago mind) the A6 was cheaper for a better spec.

The All road has an even smaller boot than the normal A4 avant, something to do with the 4WD system. It’s a great car and engine, but….. well the dogs will be fine, but getting more than one bike in is a squeeze. The BIK will be a killer if its a company car, try for a smaller engine. It’s a great car, but not a big car.

When I was looking, the all-road seemed a lot more dosh over the Quattro for not huge gains. I went for the larger A6 as needed the space, but just with the 2.0D Stronic. I really like it, suits our family needs very well.

Really not a fan of the Audi auto boxes. Put your foot down to take a space entering a round-a-bout and nothing happens for a good second or two… Which turns a reasonable if you get a move on space into a tight gap. Maybe you get used to it and drive round it but that sort of defeats the point!

How about a Transit Custom AWD Crew/double-cab-in-van? (as you are already coming from a commercial)

By all accounts, the AWD system is pretty respectable unlike some of the faux soft-roaders that can’t put enough torque through the part time system to actually make a difference.

Saw once recently with a few options thrown at it and it looked very nice. I spent some time looking into the larger ‘classic’ Transit with the same AWD but in the end it couldn’t match the size or towing capacity of a 2wd Iveco which was a disappointment.

Custom with the middle bulkhead and 5 seats with a walkthough would be insanely practical for bikes/dogs/camping, and its shorter than the Navara.

Really not a fan of the Audi auto boxes. Put your foot down to take a space entering a round-a-bout and nothing happens for a good second or two… Which turns a reasonable if you get a move on space into a tight gap.

This, so much this.

thats what the paddles are for, you can even knock it down a gear with the gear stick which is what you would do in a manual.

Which, even if it worked well, kinda defeats the point of an auto box.

Hateful things – although they have remapped them so newer ones aren’t a s la… ggy (mine was a 63 plate, had a 66 as a courtesy vehicle last year and it was much better.

I’ve got an A4 3.0l Allroad. Had it a year from new, absolutely no problem with it. Lovely smooth engine, fantastic gearbox.
I used to have an A6 Allroad, which was huge, and we do now notice the difference in load carrying capacity.
Having said that the A4 feels faster in acceleration, probably because its a lighter vehicle.
A great car for munching the long distance miles. I can get 50mpg out of it…….but not very often, you have to drive it very very carefully! More normally I get low 40’s.
My only complaint……….and it’s a ridiculous one really, but ours came with a sunroof. This lowers the roof height by an inch or so and I keep banging my head!

We have. And I didn’t agree with you then and continue not to agree with you now. The one I had in my A6 3.0tdi Quattro (63 plate) was shocking. I have driven other autos (before and since) including the DSG (in an A5 and a Leon FR) and I have never experienced lag like I had in my car – I urge you to try test driving one to see for yourself.

DSG’s are not to my taste at all. Driven loads of cars with them, always come away underwhelmed. The last was a 2017 model Audi S3 saloon, the salesman was surprised I didn’t like DSG ( it was their only demo so had to take it out) and after a long test drive said ‘surely you are now convinced’ and he was surprised when I said no.
I had one of the last A4 3.0l Tdi quattros that was available with a manual gearbox ( 2009). I would have bought another but since they were by then DSG only, decided to buy something else.
The Audi salesman at the time couldn’t believe I was going to buy a Skoda instead.
“you’ll loose so much in depreciation’ he said. This was bearing in mind the Skoda was the same price at 6 months old as the money I had lost in depreciation on the Audi in 4 years. ‘I don’t think the Skoda will be worth nothing at four and half years old’ I said. And I was right. It had lost quite a bit less than half of the depreciation in actual monetary terms in the same period as I had lost on the Audi.

I once had a measured ( brim to brim from the same pump) 48mpg from the A4 3.0Tdi. Once. It usually managed 36-40 mpg. On a long run the Superb 170tdi would regularly do 50 but averaged 44 in my time with it. Both Manuals, both 4wd.
My current manual petrol 4wd car has averaged 34mpg but once hit 40.
The latter is the nicest to drive of the three

I like Allroads, I looked at both A6 and the A4 and preferred the A4, I wasn’t looking at the big engined one mind because the small 2.0ltr diesel was more what I fancied.. and a manual too. I’ve got a DSG box on my toy and I’d agree that with the earlier versions you do have to anticipate exits from junctions and entry to roundabouts.. not a lot but it’s best just to either keep rolling very slowly or give a blip of the go peddle to spin up the clutches..